CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention is directed to the field of chemical vapor deposition of silicon
dioxide and silicon oxynitride films using bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane, a novel
organosilicon source material. It allows for the deposition of different dielectrics
using the same organosilicon source, temperature, and pressure simply by varying reactant
gases.
[0004] In the fabrication of semiconductor devices, a thin passive layer of a chemically
inert dielectric material such as, silicon dioxide, silicon oxynitride and silicon
nitride films, is essential. Thin layers of these dielectric films function as diffusion
masks, oxidation barriers, trench isolation, intermetallic dielectric material with
high dielectric breakdown voltages and as passivation layers.
[0005] The present semiconductor industry standard for silicon dioxide and silicon oxynitride
growth methods is by low pressure chemical vapor deposition in a hot wall reactor
at >400°C.
[0006] Deposition of silicon dioxide over large numbers of silicon wafers has been accomplished
using silane and oxygen above 400°C, by dichlorosilane and N
2O above 800°C, and by tetraethoxysilane above 650°C. Deposition of silicon oxynitride
has been obtained using dichlorosilane, N
2O and NH
3 above 750°C, see Semiconductor and Process technology handbook, edited by Gary E.
McGuire, Noyes Publication, New Jersey, (1988), pp 289-301; and Silicon Processing
for the VLSI ERA, Wolf Stanley, and Talbert, Richard N., Lattice Press, Sunset Beach,
California (1990), pp 20-22, 327-330.
[0007] Higher deposition temperatures are typically employed to get the best film properties.
There are several drawbacks in these processes, and some of these are as follows:
i) Silane and dichlorosilane are pyrophoric, toxic compressed gases; ii) Oxide depositions
with dichlorosilane require very high temperatures and have very low deposition rates.
The films may contain chlorine and there is a significant particle contamination problem.
iii) Films formed using silane are not dense and are hygroscopic. This process requires
expensive "caged boats" to obtain usable deposited film uniformities. Small deviations
in oxygen to silane ratios may produce homogeneous reactions that will produce significant
particle contamination.
[0008] A. K. Hochberg and D. L. O'Meara, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc,. Vol. 204, (1991), pp
509-514, report deposition of silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride by using diethylsilane
with ammonia and nitric oxide by LPCVD. The deposition was carried out in the temperature
range of 650°C to 700°C. Usable deposition rates are obtained at temperatures above
650°C and the deposition rate drops to below 4Å/mm at lower temperatures. In the LPCVD
process, precursors which contain direct Si-C carbon bonds result in carbon contamination
in the films. Carbon free deposition requires greater than 5:1 NH
3 to precursor ratios. At lower ammonia concentrations, the films were found to contain
carbon. Diethylsilane + ammonia processes typically require covered boats to improve
wafer uniformities.
[0009] Japanese Patent 6-132284 describes deposition of silicon nitride using organosilanes
with a general formula (R
1R
2N)
n SiH
4-n (where R
1 and R
2 range from H-, CH
3-, C
2H
5- C
3H
7-, C
4H
9-) by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and thermal chemical vapor deposition
in the presence of ammonia or nitrogen. The precursors described here are tertiary
amines and do not contain NH bonding as in the case of the present invention. The
deposition experiments were carried out in a single wafer reactor at 400°C at high
pressures of 80-100 Torr. The Si:N ratios in these films were 0.9 (Si:N ratios in
Si
3N
4 films is 0.75) with hydrogen content in the deposited films. The butyl radical is
in the form of isobutyl.
[0010] US Patent Application SN 08/942,996 filed 2 October 1997 discloses a process for
the low pressure chemical vapor deposition of silicon nitride on a substrate using
ammonia and a silane of the formula: (t-C
4H
9NH)
2SiH
2.
[0011] US Patent 5,234,869 and R.G. Gordon and D. M. Hoffman, Chem. Mater., Vol. 2, (1990),
pp 482-484 disclose other attempts to reduce the amount of carbon involved aminosilanes,
such as tetrakis(dimethylamino)silane. The temperature of deposition is in the range
of 300-1000°C with pressures in the range of 1 mTorr-10 Torr. The presence of direct
Si-N bonds and the absence of Si-C bonds were expected to give lower carbon concentrations
in the films. Howeve, there are three main disadvantages with precursors of this class.
1) They contain N-methyl groups, the methyl groups tend to migrate to the silicon
surface readily and contaminate the films with carbon during a CVD process. In order
to reduce the amount of carbon, the process involves high temperatures (>700) and
high ammonia ratios (>10:1). With increased ammonia ratios the deposition rates dramatically
reduce due to reactant depletion.
2) They do not contain NH bonding and they do not involve secondary silanes.
3) At lower temperatures the deposition rates and uniformities are very poor (>5%).
[0012] The prior art has attempted to produce silicon dioxide or silicon oxynitride or silicon
nitride films at temperatures >550C, at high deposition rates and low hydrogen and
carbon contamination. However, the prior art has not been successful in achieving
all these goals simultaneously with one silicon precursor. The present invention has
overcome the problems of the prior art with the use of a single precursor for the
formation of silicon dioxide and silicon oxynitride (as well as silicon nitride),
which avoids the problems of plasma deposition, operates at low thermal conditions
(<600C), avoids Si-C bonds to reduce carbon contamination of the resulting films,
has low hydrogen contamination, as well as avoiding chlorine contamination and operates
at low pressures (20 mTorr - 2 Torr) and up to atmospheric pressures in a manufacturable
batch furnace (100 wafers or more) or a single wafer reactor, as will be described
in greater detail below.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present invention is a process for the deposition on a substrate of a film of
an oxygen containing silicon compound selected from the group consisting of silicon
dioxide and silicon oxynitride by reacting bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane at an elevated
temperature with a reactant gas selected from the group consisting of oxygen, ozone
or mixtures thereof when the silicon compound is silicon dioxide or selected from
the group consisting of a nitrogen oxide, ammonia and mixtures thereof when the silicon
compound is silicon oxynitride.
[0014] To form silicon dioxide films, the bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane and O
2 or O
3 are allowed to react in the reactor tube at an elevated temperature, preferably 500°C-800°C.
To form silicon oxynitride films, the bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane and N
2O, NO
2 or NO with or without NH
3 are allowed to react in the reactor tube at an elevated temperature, preferably 500°C-800°C.
The composition of the film to obtain desired O/N ratios can be easily accomplished
by changing the ratios of the reactant gas mixtures as described in the experimental
section.
[0015] Preferably, the pressure is in the range of approximately 20 mTorr to 1 atmosphere.
[0016] Preferably, the molar ratio of reactant gases O
2, O
3, N
2O, NO, NO
2, NH
3 or mixtures of gases to BTBAS is greater than approximately 1:1.
[0017] Preferably, the substrate is silicon.
[0018] Preferably, the substrate is an electronic device.
[0019] Alternatively, the substrate is a flat panel display.
[0020] In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is a chemical vapor deposition of
silicon dioxide in a reaction zone, comprising the steps of:
a) heating a substrate to a temperature in the range of approximately 500-800°C in
the zone;
b) maintaining the substrate at a pressure in the range of approximately 20mTorr-1
atmosphere in the zone;
c) introducing into the zone a reactant gas of O2 and a silane of the formula: (t-C4H9NH)2SiH2 and reacting the reactant gas with the silane; and
d) maintaining the conditions of a) through c) sufficient to cause a film of silicon
dioxide to deposit on the substrate.
[0021] In an alternative embodiment, the present invention is a chemical vapor deposition
of silicon oxynitride in a reaction zone, comprising the steps of:
a) heating a substrate to a temperature in the range of approximately 500-800°C in
the zone;
b) maintaining the substrate at a pressure in the range of approximately 20mTorr-1
atmosphere in the zone;
c) introducing into the zone reactant gases selected from the group consisting of
N2O, NO, NO2, and mixtures thereof, ammonia and a silane of the formula: (t-C4H9NH)2SiH2 and reacting the reactant gases with the silane; and
d) maintaining the conditions of a) through c) sufficient to cause a film of silicon
oxynitride to deposit on the substrate.
[0022] In a further alternative embodiment, the present invention is a process for the chemical
vapor deposition on a substrate of a stack of silicon compounds selected from the
group consisting of silicon dioxide, silicon oxynitrides and silicon nitride in a
reaction zone, comprising the steps of:
a) heating the substrate to a temperature in the range of approximately 500-800°C
in the zone;
b) maintaining the substrate at a pressure in the range of approximately 20mTorr-1
atmosphere in the zone;
c) introducing into the zone a silane of the formula: (t-C4H9NH)2SiH2;
d) introducing into the zone varying amounts of a reactant gas selected from the group
consisting of O2, O3, N2O, NO, NO2, NH3 and mixtures thereof appropriate to deposit multiple stacked layers of a film of
a silicon compound containing silicon and one or more of oxygen, nitrogen and mixtures
thereof, wherein each stacked layer can have a different amount of oxygen, nitrogen
and mixtures thereof and reacting the reactant gas with the silane;
e) maintaining the conditions of a) through c) sufficient to cause the multiple stacked
layers of a film of the silicon compound to deposit on the substrate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023]
Figure 1 is a graph of the temperature dependence of the deposition rate of silicon
oxide using bis(t-butylamino)silane and oxygen.
Figure 2 is a FTIR spectra of silicon oxynitrides showing the effect of changing the
ratio N2O to NH3.
Figure 3 is a graph of the change in refractive index as a function of the reactant
gases NH3 and N2O, as well as O2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0024] A large variety of "thin films" are used in the fabrication of Very Large Scale Integration
(VLSI) devices. These deposited thin films can be of metals, semiconductors, or insulators.
The films may be thermally grown or deposited from the vapor phase using low pressure
chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). VLSI technology requires very thin insulators for
a variety of applications in both microprocessors and random-access memories device
fabrication. Silicon dioxide has been predominantly used as a dielectric material
because of its ease of deposition and excellent properties at the SiO
2/Si interface. Silicon nitride has other advantages over silicon dioxide, some of
these include impurity and dopant resistant diffusion barriers, high dielectric breakdown
voltages, superior mechanical and inherent inertness of Si
3N
4. Charge transport in metal nitride oxide and semiconductor (MNOS) devices can be
reduced by depositing a thin layer of silicon oxynitride prior to silicon nitride
deposition or by replacing silicon nitride with silicon oxynitride.
[0025] In VLSI fabrication a large set of rigorous chemical, structural, process and electrical
requirements need to be satisfied. Purity of the film, thickness, uniformity and deposition
rates are some of the strictly controlled parameters to facilitate fabrication of
submicron features in a device. It is a major advantage in the fabrication and performance
of a device if the deposition process can be carried out at temperatures lower than
850°C. There is no report of a silicon source material for depositing a stack of dielectrics
of varying oxygen and nitrogen concentrations at the same temperature below 600°C
with usable film uniformities over large wafer surfaces and large wafer batches. A
safe, reliable low temperature dielectric source material has applications in other
technologies, such as; flat panel display devices, other electronic and non-electronic
substrates or compound semiconductor device fabrication.
[0026] The present invention is directed to bis(tertiarybutylamino)silanes as a class of
aminosilanes that deposit silicon dioxide and silicon oxynitride at the same unexpectedly
low temperatures with superior uniformities.
[0027] The bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane (BTBAS) has the following formula:
(t-C
4H
9NH)
2Si(H)
2.
[0028] The deposited films have superior uniformities and are free of ammonium chloride
and chlorine contamination. Analogous aminosilanes which contain ligands, such as
n-butylamines and tetrakis(dimethylamino)silane, do not deposit carbon free films
at such low temperatures by LPCVD or otherwise, and the film uniformities are poorer.
[0029] The remarkable advantages of bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane may be attributable to
the inherent property of t-butyl amine ligands in bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane. During
pyrolysis of bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane, the t-butyl amine ligand may eliminate
readily as isobutylene. Isobutylene is a very stable, good leaving group and thus
does not contaminate films during deposition. In comparison to the dialkylaminosilanes,
tertiarybutylamino groups are more basic than dialkylamines due to the presence of
the nitrogen-hydrogen bond (N-H) in the tertiarybutylamino group. The presence of
the N-H bond may facilitate labile β-hydride transfer to form diaminosilane and cleavage
of the tertiarybutyl group as isobutylene.
[0030] Other advantages of bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane can be summarized as follows:
1) It is a non-pyrophoric volatile stable liquid with a vapor pressure of 7.5 Torr
at 40-45°C.
2) It does not have any chlorine in the precursor. The Si-Cl bonds in dichlorosilane
leads to the formation of ammonium chloride during the deposition of silicon nitride
which deposits in the back end of the tube and requires frequent cleaning.
3) The precursor does not contain direct Si-C bonds, and the resulting silicon oxide
and silicon oxynitride films have very low carbon content.
4) The t-butyl amino ligands behave as good leaving groups to form isobutylene and
are readily eliminated during pyrolysis. This is thought to be in part because the
compound has a N-H bond. This additional advantage helps in removing all the carbon
cleanly without contaminating the deposited films.
5) The steric bulk in BTBAS helps in increased mobility of the molecules on the surface
of the substrate which results in higher uniformity.
[0031] The bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane compound is also more desirable than than the mono,
tri or tetrakis (tertiarybutylamino) analog because the mono analog is unstable, the
tri substituted analog has significant delivery problems, the tetrakis (tertiary butylamino)silane
analog has much lower vapor pressure and cannot be readily synthesized due to steric
bulk of the ligands on a single silicon atom and therefore inappropriate for commercial
use. The N-H bonding properties discussed above is an added advantage in the case
of when compared to other alkylaminosilane.
[0032] To form silicon dioxide films, the bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane and O
2, O
3 or mixtures are allowed to react in the reactor tube at an elevated temperature,
preferably 500°C-800°C. To form silicon oxynitride films, the bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane
and N
2O, NO
2 or NO plus NH
3 are allowed to react in the reactor tube at an elevated temperature, preferably 500°C-800°C.
The O/N ratio in the silicon oxynitride can be varied by changing the ratios of reactant
gases as desired. Surprisingly, silicon dioxide is not formed by adding NO or N
2O to BTBAS at these low temperatures, in contrast to oxide formation using dichlorosilane
and N
2O.
[0033] Stacked layers of a film of a silicon compound, wherein each layer has a potentially
discrete concentration of oxygen and nitrogen varying layer to layer from all silicon
and oxygen in the form of silicon dioxide for a particular layer or layers, through
various concentrations of silicon, oxygen and nitrogen in the form of silicon oxynitride
for a particular layer or layers, to silicon and nitrogen in the form of silicon nitride
for a particular layer or layers, can be deposited merely by varying the concentration
of the reactant gases of O
2, O
3, N
2O, NO, NO
2, NH
3 and mixtures that react with the BTBAS for each layer in the stack which comprises
the ultimately deposited film.
[0034] The CVD process can be grouped into a) a gas-phase process and b) a surface reaction
process. The gas phase phenomenon is the rate at which gases impinge on the substrate.
This is modeled by the rate at which gases cross the boundary layer that separates
the bulk regions of flowing gas and substrate surface. Such transport processes occur
by gas-phase diffusion, which is proportional to the diffusivity of the gas and concentration
gradient across the boundary layer. Several surface processes can be important when
the gases reach the hot surface, but the surface reaction, in general, can be modeled
by a thermally activated phenomenon which proceeds at a rate which is a function of
the frequency factor, the activation energy, and the temperature.
[0035] Reaction may occur either on the surface or very close to the wafer surface to deposit
a thin film of silicon dioxide or silicon oxynitride, as required. If the reaction
occurs in the gas phase (a homogeneous reaction) then clusters of silicon dioxide
or silicon oxynitride are formed. When the reaction occurs close to the wafer surface
then the resulting films are of superior uniformities. Thus, one important requirement
for CVD application is the degree to which heterogeneous reactions are favored over
gas phase reactions.
[0036] The surface reaction rate increases with increasing temperature. For a given surface
reaction, the temperature may rise high enough so that the reaction rate exceeds the
rate at which reactant species arrive at the surface. In such cases, the reaction
cannot proceed any more rapidly than the rate at which reactant gases are supplied
to the substrate by mass transport. This is referred to as a mass-transport limited
deposition process. At lower temperatures, the surface reaction rate is reduced, and
eventually the concentration of reactants exceeds the rate at which they are consumed
by the surface reaction process. Under such conditions the deposition rate is reaction
rate limited. Thus, at high temperatures, the deposition is usually mass-transport
limited, while at lower temperatures it is surface-reaction rate-limited. In actual
processes, the temperature at which the deposition condition moves from one of these
growth regimes to the other is dependent on the activation energy of the reaction,
and the gas flow conditions in the reactor. Thus, it is difficult to extrapolate process
conditions or results from one pressure regime or temperature regime to another.
[0037] In processes that are run under reaction rate-limited conditions, the temperature
of the process is an important parameter. That is, uniform deposition rates throughout
a reactor require conditions that maintain a constant reaction rate. This, in turn,
implies that a constant temperature must exist everywhere on all wafer surfaces. On
the other hand, under such conditions, the rate at which reactants reach the surface
is not important, since their concentration does not limit the growth rate. Thus,
it is not as critical that a reactor be designed to supply an equal flux of reactants
to all locations of a wafer surface. It should be appreciated that in LPCVD reactors,
wafers can be stacked vertically and at very close spacing because such systems operate
in a reaction rate limited mode. The reason for this is as follows: Under the low
pressure of an LPCVD reactor ∼1 torr, the diffusivity of the gas species is increased
by a factor of 1000 over that at atmospheric pressure, and this is only partially
offset by the fact that the boundary layer, the distance across which the reactants
must diffuse, increases by less than the square root of the pressure. The net effect
is that there is more than an order of magnitude increase in the transport of reactants
to and byproducts away from the substrate surface, and the rate-limiting step is thus
the surface reaction.
[0038] The presence of the tertiary-butyl group in bis(tertiarybutylamlno)silane apparently
helps the surface reaction pathways and hence the deposited films have a superior
uniformity when compared to other processes, even at lower temperatures. These films
were deposited using an LPCVD hot walled reactor, as described below.
[0039] Low pressure chemical vapor deposition processes (LPCVD) involve chemical reactions
that are allowed to take place in the pressure range of 20mTorr to 2 Torr. The chemical
vapor deposition (CVD) process can be described in the following sequence of steps
at a given temperature, pressure and ratio of the reactants:
1) Reactants are introduced into the reaction chamber and may be diluted with inert
gases, if needed;
2) The reactants are allowed to diffuse to the substrate;
3) The reactants are adsorbed on the substrate, and the adsorbed molecules undergo
migration; and
4) Chemical reactions occur on the surface, and the gaseous byproducts of the reaction
are desorbed, leaving behind the deposited film. The reactions are initiated by several
methods; e.g., thermal or photons. Thermal energy is used in the LPCVD process.
[0040] Horizontal tube hot wall reactors are the most widely used for LPCVD in VLSI manufacturing.
They are employed for depositing poly-Si, silicon nitride and undoped and doped silicon
dioxide films. These reactors are used extensively because they are economical, have
high throughputs, their deposited films are uniform and they can accommodate large
diameter wafers (6"-12"). Their main disadvantages are poor thermal uniformity over
wafers greater than 150 mm diameter and difficulties in automation.
[0041] The vertical flow isothermal LPCVD reactor may also be used for deposition of silicon
dioxide. These reactors are more easily automated than horizontal reactors and produce
more uniform temperatures across large diameter wafers.
[0042] To induce the low pressure conditions in the reactor, an appropriate vacuum system
is necessary. For the present experiments, the vacuum system consisted of a rotary
vane pump/roots blower combination and various cold traps. The reactor pressure is
controlled by a capacitance manometer feedback to a throttle valve controller. Reactor
loading consisted of eighty 100 mm diameter silicon wafers at 9mm spacing in standard
diffusion boats. The boats were positioned on a sled, so that the wafers centers were
slightly above the center of the reaction tube. This produces a uniform conductance
around the wafer peripheries by compensating for conductance restrictions caused by
the boats and the sled. The temperature uniformity across the wafer load for the data
presented was ± 1°C as measured by an internal multi-junction thermocouple. Deposition
uniformity down the wafer load is improved by a temperature ramp.
[0043] Our deposition experiments were carried out in a horizontal tube reactor, but the
deposition with this precursor will occur even in a vertical tube reactor. The precursor
was fed through an open port near the load door. Reactant gases O
2, or O
3 for silicon dioxide or N
2O, NO or NO
2 and NH
3 for silicon oxynitride were also fed from a port near the door of the furnace independently.
[0044] The present invention of a method of depositing substantially pure thin silicon dioxide
and silicon oxynitride, films on silicon wafers by using a bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane
precursor has been demonstrated experimentally. The bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane
is a non-pyrophoric volatile liquid which is safer to handle than silane and dichlorosilane.
The deposition process is carried out at low to atmospheric pressure, preferably 20mTorr-2Torr
and at elevated temperature preferably in the temperature range of preferably 500°C
to 800°C using vapors from bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane and reactant gases O
2 or O
3 for silicon dioxide or N
2O, NO or NO
2 and NH
3 for silicon oxynitride. Optionally, an inert gas diluent, such as nitrogen or argon,
can be used to dilute and control the rate of reaction. The molar feed ratio of reactant
gases as mentioned above, to bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane and is preferably greater
than 1:1.
Example 1
[0045] The process involves reaction of bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane with oxygen at 250
mTorr reactor pressure. The precursor and oxygen are introduced into the heated reactor
(550-625°C)-at the door. The reactants are flowed over wafers into the evacuated chamber.
The oxygen to silicon source is kept at a ratio in the range of 1.6:1-2:1. A continuous
film of silicon dioxide is deposited upon the surface of a silicon wafer. These films
are suitable for integrated circuit manufacture. A typical run was carried out in
a 150mm hot wall LPCVD horizontal tube reactor, although the apparatus configuration
is not critical. The process involves loading the quartz reactor with 75 to 100 silicon
wafers; evacuating the system; letting the wafers come to a desired temperature at
which the deposition will be carried out. The energy required for this reaction can
be supplied by simple resistive heating. However, simple, resistive heating is advantageous
because the equipment is less expensive, and one avoids radiative film damage often
associated with plasma reactors.
[0046] The films are characterized by infrared spectroscopy and refractive index. FT-IR
spectrum is consistent with thermally grown silicon dioxide and silicon dioxide films
deposited from other known oxide precursors e.g. dichlorosilane + N
2O, tetraethoxysilane, and diethylsilane. There are strong Si-O-Si asymmetric stretch
bands near 1050 cm
-1 and a weaker Si-O-Si symmetric stretch near 810 cm
-1. Refractive indices for these films were measured by ellipsometry at 632.4 nm and
the refractive indices ranged from 1.46 to 1.50 for these films. There are no bands
associated with carbon. Figure 1 shows the temperature dependence of the silicon oxide
deposition rate. BTBAS was flowed at a rate of 55 standard cubic centimeters per minute
(sccm) and oxygen was flowed at 90 and 120 sccm. There were no significant differences
in film deposition rates, refractive indices, or absorption bands associated with
different oxygen flows. This shows that the process is very robust (unchanged by slight
changes in variables).
Example 2
[0047] The process involves reaction of bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane with N
2O and NH
3 at 600°C and 500 mTorr reactor pressure. The precursor and reactants are introduced
into the heated reactor, as in Example 1. Using 60 sccm BTBAS with varying amounts
of N
2O and NH
3, the film properties could be varied from a silicon nitride to various silicon oxynitrides.
This is shown in the FTIR spectra normalized in Figure 2. Here the percentages are
of N
2O in the mixture of N
2O + NH
3 (total volumetric flow of 200 sccm). The average deposition rate varied from 20 to
29 Angstroms per minute, with higher rates occuring with higher percentages of N
2O. In Figure 3, the full effect of changing the reactants is displayed. The temperature
and pressure were maintained at 600°C and 500 mTorr for these depositions. The film
refractive index then changed from near 2.0 (silicon nitride) to 1.46 (silicon oxide).
This shows that a dielectric stack of oxides, nitrides, and oxynitrides may be deposited
in a single reactor at a fixed temperature and pressure.
[0048] Bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane has been shown to have superior properties and performance
in depositing either silicon oxide or silicon oxynitride, as well as silicon nitride.
High deposition rates are obtained using chemicals that have N-H bonds; i.e.,bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane.
The lowest carbon impurities in deposited films are obtained using chemicals that
do not have direct Si-C bonds, namely; bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane. The most uniform
depositions are obtained using chemicals that have t-butyl groups, namely; bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane.
In light of this criteria, bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane is unexpectedly a superior
silicon oxide and silicon oxynitride precursor, as well as a silicon nitride precursor.
[0049] The present invention has been described with regard to a preferred embodiment, however
the full scope of the present invention should be ascertained from the claims which
follow.
1. A process for the deposition on a substrate of a film of an oxygen containing silicon
compound selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide and silicon oxynitride
by reacting bis(tertiarybutylamino)silane at an elevated temperature with a reactant
gas selected from the group consisting of oxygen, ozone and mixtures thereof when
said silicon compound is silicon dioxide or selected from the group consisting of
a nitrogen oxide, ammonia and mixtures thereof when said silicon compound is silicon
oxynitride.
2. The process of Claim 1 wherein the temperature of the substrate is in the range of
approximately 500 to 800°C.
3. The process of Claim 1 wherein the pressure is in the range of approximately 20 mTorr
to 1 atmosphere.
4. The process of Claim 1 wherein the molar ratio of reactant gases to silane is greater
than approximately 1:1.
5. The process of Claim 1 wherein the substrate is silicon.
6. The process of Claim 1 wherein the substrate is an electronic device.
7. The process of Claim 1 wherein the substrate is a flat panel display.
8. A process for the chemical vapor deposition on a substrate of silicon dioxide in a
reaction zone, comprising the steps of:
a) heating said substrate to a temperature in the range of approximately 500-800°C
in said zone;
b) maintaining the substrate at a pressure in the range of approximately 20mTorr-1
atmosphere in said zone;
c) introducing into said zone a reactant gas of O2 and a silane of the formula: (t-C4H9NH)2SiH2 and reacting said reactant gas with said silane; and
d) maintaining the conditions of a) through c) sufficient to cause a film of silicon
dioxide to deposit on the substrate.
9. A process for the chemical vapor deposition on a substrate of silicon oxynitride in
a reaction zone, comprising the steps of:
a) heating said substrate to a temperature in the range of approximately 500-800°C
in said zone;
b) maintaining the substrate at a pressure in the range of approximately 20mTorr-1
atmosphere in said zone;
c) introducing into said zone reactant gases selected from the group consisting of
N2O, NO, NO2, and mixtures thereof ammonia and a silane of the formula: (t-C4H9NH)2SiH2 and reacting said reactant gases with said silane; and
d) maintaining the conditions of a) through c) sufficient to cause a film of silicon
oxynitride to deposit on the substrate.
10. A process for the chemical vapor deposition on a substrate of a stack of silicon compounds
selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, silicon oxynitride and silicon
nitride in a reaction zone, comprising the steps of:
a) heating said substrate to a temperature in the range of approximately 500-800°C
in said zone;
b) maintaining the substrate at a pressure in the range of approximately 20mTorr-1
atmosphere in said zone;
c) introducing into said zone a silane of the formula: (t-C4H9NH)2SiH2;
d) introducing into said zone varying amounts of a reactant gas selected from the
group consisting of O2, O3, N2O, NO, NO2, NH3 and mixtures thereof appropriate to deposit multiple stacked layers of a film of
a silicon compound containing silicon and one or more of oxygen, nitrogen and mixtures
thereof, wherein each stacked layer can have a different amount of oxygen, nitrogen
and mixtures thereof and reacting said reactant gas with said silane;
e) maintaining the conditions of a) through c) sufficient to cause said multiple stacked
layers of a film of said silicon compound to deposit on said substrate.